Epitome of The Forbidden Word
by Ami1010
Summary: First anniversary, all good, all perfect. Tenten's cuteness from Neji's point of view. One-shot. Fluff. NejiTen.


I did say before that my other two-part fic would be my only one, but I changed my mind, especially that that was more or less (rather more :P) a birth story that not everyone likes to read.

It took me forever to finish this because of studying, studying, studying and such, but now it's ready.

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**NOTE:** I am posting this as Romance & Humor, but it's neither really romantic nor that funny, just some cute stuff I hope you enjoy.

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own Naruto. Is it really important to add when this is FanFiction?

I apologize for any mistakes you might find. Please enjoy! :)

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It was a perfect, lovely early-summer evening in Konoha, with a scent of freshness and just the right amount of breeze.

It was perfect like the same day last year had been, perfect like it should be, because it was chosen for this reason.

Tenten had been right, she was always right. Early summer was the best time to get married.

He had proposed much earlier than that, in the beginnings of autumn, but she'd wanted to wait for summer for them to wed and he hasn't regretted it.

Today they were celebrating their first anniversary. They've decided to make it beautiful in the simple way; a day for themselves as lovers.

They spent the morning lazily lying in bed, talking; mostly remembering every detail of their wedding day and discussing matters concerning their future children, since today marked the day of officially ending The Time for Themselves Only period of their lives.

It was time to start expanding the family and the work on that would begin as soon as they got home.

The afternoon was spent training as absurd as that sounds. They've been very busy the last two months or so, not being able to have even one single spar, and so the idea of sparring together presented itself as a fine luxury. They didn't tire themselves really; they sparred just for the enjoyment of it.

After that, after they returned home and took a shower, Neji gave her her gift.

He'd thought so much about what to get her, but all the time thinking surely payed off. He didn't want to give her something too traditional, he wanted something special though he couldn't figure out what would be best. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't giving her a damn weapon, enough with that. Through the years of their relationship he'd given her weapons as a gift in every possible way; new weapons, gold weapons, silver weapons, mini weapons to collect, since Tenten believed they were cute, bejeweled weapons for decoration, etc. And he was not giving her a new weapon today.

He wanted to give her something she would love, something that would make her happy, make her squeak with delight, something that would have her talk about it for at least a month just because of how beautiful it was. Even if it was uncommon for the occasion; it was about pleasing her not about following tradition.

And one day he just woke up with the perfect idea, it wouldn't be a gift directly for her but it was still sufficient.

And she sure did squeak and make every kind of related noises snatching the baby clothes, holding them before her and blabbering in a high pitched tone something in a woman-language he did not speak nor was he interested in, but Tenten looked, beside crazy, rather cute, and he was more than satisfied with the reaction he got. And she would still be speaking of the gift for at least a year, since it should come in handy then.

Though, giving his wife only baby clothes for their child on their anniversary seemed inappropriate to him, even rude, so he got her a beautiful diamond bracelet - that cost him a fortune - in addition. Tenten actually liked to dress up for him; sexy clothes, make up, jewelry, heavy perfumes were all reserved for him and him only. And he was all too happy to supply her with more.

At the moment, they were enjoying their expensive dinner in some high-class restaurant. Tenten was wearing a wonderful, fancy, silky kimono and her hair was pulled up in some extremely complicated looking way with decorative tiny flowers and a bigger one on the base of the whole thing. It looked really beautiful, he just hoped he wouldn't have too much trouble undoing it later on at night.

"The octopus is amazing." Tenten remarked suddenly, maybe not comfortable with the silence anymore.

"Hn." he watched her eat, "It's a little too chewy."

"Oh no, it's not. It's perfect. You just want to _find_ something wrong with it." she took another bite of it as if to prove her point.

He still watched her as he randomly picked something with his chopsticks, not looking at his plate, his eyes fixated on his beautiful wife.

She really looked cute when eating; clumsy, yet elegant, in a way only Tenten could manage, and her chewing on her food was so adorable.

He's known her for so long; for most of his life, and his relationship with her from classmates, to teammates, to friends, to best friends, to lovers, allowed him enough time to watch everything about her, especially the last amazing year they spent as husband and wife.

He'd come to realize that he loved her cuteness!

The first time he thought she was cute he hadn't really known her. They'd been classmates in the academy, but back then he'd still been the angry, arrogant, Main Family hater child who didn't want to have any contact with others.

She'd been the skilled six year old girl who had the best aim among their group of academy students, even better than his, than the genius, number one prodigy's, and at some point he had felt jealousy. But at that day he had observed her, had wanted to know what made her throws of weapons better than his. He'd watched as she threw kunai after kunai, brows slightly furrowed in concentration and jaw set with determination.

She'd thrown a new kunai and this time it wasn't just very close, but it hit dead center, and her happy smile had been brilliant.

He had thought she looked cute, and he had been horrified at what he thought, too.

Later on after graduating from the academy, he'd discovered the misfortune of being on Team Gai with those two. Those two being the crazy, disgustingly clad teacher and the equally crazy, good-for-nothing classmate. But he'd been thankful there was someone alright on his team as well; Tenten.

He'd later on realized how mistaken he was about the three of them. The beautiful Green Beasts of Konoha were nothing but amazing, powerful shinobi, and Tenten was not merely an alright teammate, but she'd become his everything.

And even at those old days, she'd been always by his side. Whenever they weren't training as team, she'd been training with him, and she was the one who'd helped him perfect his techniques; the Hyuuga's main family techniques.

As he'd spent more and more time with her, he'd come to the conclusion that looking at her face was something rather appealing to do. He'd decided he liked her eyes; her expressive eyes. He himself had hated to show emotions, he was still not comfortable with it, but he'd liked - still did - to see them through her own features.

Her smile, at anyone of their team, it was so warm and breathtaking he'd felt himself relax immediately even if he'd just heard the longest, most ridiculous rant about youth. He'd started to notice that she looked.. maybe lovely?.. when she pouted when he'd tell her they weren't taking a break, or when she huffed in annoyance at some "youthful" comment from their sensei, or when her brows furrowed with concentration at some explanation of a specific technique from their "youthful" sensei, or when she blushed, embarrassed about a failure or shy about a compliment.

He'd much later on allowed himself to think of that as cute.

He had yet to utter the word "cute" though. A male Hyuuga did not say _such_ a word, especially not Hyuuga Neji, it was bad enough that he used it in his head.

"Where are you, dear?" Tenten asked jokingly, bringing him out of his land of sweet past.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something." he said, smiling a bit, "Good memories."

"They better be about me on this special day."

"They are."

"Good, so what are they?"

"Nothing specific."

"God! Neji, you're so boring sometimes. Don't you realize I was trying to start a conversation?"

She was especially cute when she was angry/annoyed or when she was worked up over a silly inconsequential thing. The way she would start to mutter under her breath or yell at him or at whomever the lucky victim was.

There was just something about her when she washed the dishes and cursed about how her hair only decided to get into her eyes when she couldn't remove it, and how she would try to remove it with her arm only to have it getting in her eyes again after two seconds.

He had even gone to the length of purposely doing something that would annoy her on more than one occasion just to enjoy the sight of an overly cute, angry Tenten, and he was not going to stop any time soon. He just couldn't help it.

He would sometimes throw his dirty mission clothes on their bed, or drip water on the floor, or refuse to get up and open the window if Tenten decided she couldn't sleep because it was so hot (He would open it after he enjoyed her for a minute or so, though) and so on with little things.

Her glare, was another story. It was too cute to even be called a child's angry smiley-face. She never had and never would have the satisfaction of scaring an enemy away, so unlike himself. It wasn't a rare thing to happen that a sorry excuse for a shinobi would run for his life upon receiving the death glare of _the_ Hyuuga Neji.

In Tenten's case though, that was nothing she could dream of experiencing. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. There had been that time when Tenten glared at her opponent, a forty something old nin, and received in return a smirk along with an "Are you trying to scare me, cute one? I would love to have you in my bed."

Needless to say, the man had been dead in an instant, and Tenten was not the one who'd killed him.

And speaking of special expressions..

One of her cutest expressions was the worried one. No one could argue about that, especially how her eyebrows would furrow together.

It was a sight worth admiring despite it making him feel bad for her, but he would never do something as cruel as worrying her on purpose.

That, though, didn't mean that she couldn't misunderstand a situation, like, for example, that one night when he'd come back home from a mission looking horrible; his clothes torn and blood covering him everywhere along with mud and dirt. He'd looked very exhausted with dark bags under his eyes.

But the fact was he'd looked way worse than her really was; the blood on him had been mostly not his own, and there'd been a long cut across his chest that looked extremely bad but was in fact quite shallow.

Tenten had gasped, terrified as she ran to him, scolding with a shaky voice about why he hadn't gone straight to the hospital, examining his state with that cute worried expression of hers.

He'd been so lost in her face that he'd barely realized he was leaning in closer to her to capture her lips with his.

He'd only noticed something was wrong when she freaked out. Apparently she'd thought his injuries were so bad he was dying, and that he was trying to say goodbye.

He almost laughed remembering this, but did his best not to so he wouldn't have to tell her the reason for the sudden humor, because he wasn't in the mood to hear another lecture about "what the hell had been wrong with him to kiss her in such a "critical" situation?".

Apparently, it didn't work.

"What's so funny, Hyuuga?" she asked.

He mentally scolded himself for losing talent in controlling the emotions on his face, before replying with a shrug, "Nothing important really."

She gave him the cute glare before sighing and a smile suddenly drew itself on her delicious lips. His instincts told him there was something very wrong and unsuitable with her action but he didn't think too much of it.

That is, until she started talking.

"I forgot to tell you," she started, "I met someone yesterday, he is a new teacher in the academy. He's so nice and handsome. I think he's even a little taller than you." she smirked as a sure frown made its way to his features, but she concentrated her eyes on her plate instead, "He said he would continue with the job and make sure to teach our children. I found it strange of him at first to say such a thing, but that was merely the beginning. He kept complimenting me about every thing that came to his mind. At last he confessed that he was so in love with me but never had the courage to voice it, and that his heart broke when we got married, but he would still be more than happy if he got the chance to be my child's sensei."

Looking up again she knew she had a few seconds at best before bursting out laughing. His face was so priceless, so angry, so jealous.

"What's his name?" he asked coldly.

And that was it. She let out her difficultly contained laughter causing Neji's death glare to intensify in the process.

"I was serious." he said, ever so coldly.

"Yes," she managed between chuckles, "but I wasn't." and as his expression slipped a little to allow slight confusion, she added, "Revenge is sweet."

And so it clicked. She put his nerves and blood on fire because he was not making conversation. Now if that wasn't cruel, then nothing was.

But still, he had to make sure.

"So, there's no such one?"

"Of course there's no such one. You think if there was, that I would bring up the topic so casually while we celebrated our first anniversary?"

He sighed, partly annoyed but mostly relieved and she laughed again, but he decided he would let it slip since she looked so beautiful and since her laughter was the only music he loved listening to, and it was so cute with the way she brought her pretty, little fist in front of her mouth. He didn't care if half the female population did the same gesture when laughing, Tenten's was the cutest, although he would wear a green spandex suit before admitting it out loud, especially that there would be so many things to admit.

One day, he had discovered something new, or maybe it was just that before that he hadn't paid attention but that was hardly the point. He had seen her do something that was just _too_ cute. No, seriously, he had almost passed out from the cuteness, had barely been able to hold himself back from saying "Awww!" in a high pitched tone that would have severely ruined his reputation.

She had sneezed!

Her sneeze was so cute it was dangerous, especially compared to that of Naruto's. While Naruto sneezed like a monster, Tenten sneezed like a fluffy little kitten. When she was starting to get a cold, when she _was_ sick or when dust flew into her nostrils, he would enjoy seeing her sneeze; the way her eyes would shut closed tightly, the way her head would move with the force of the blow and the way she would keep her mouth open and star at the nothingness after it waiting for a second one. She would look stupid, but cute all the same.

"Speaking of children," she continued, not giving up on the conversation, "I forgot to ask you, who bought the baby clothes?"

"I did."

"Oh my god! You actually went through the humiliation?" she wasn't shocked though, if her interest in her food instead of his face was any indication.

"Well, I asked Hinata-sama to go with me."

"I knew it. You would never go baby shopping, but it is really sweet that you went too. Hinata could have done it for you on her own."

"We pretended to choose a gift for a relative of ours, so it was okay." _I wanted to be the one to choose when it was a gift for you._ But he left that unsaid.

"Yeah, we needn't have rumors about us having a child when we're not having one."

"Yet." he added.

"Yet." she agreed chuckling, "Of course. I can perfectly imagine a beautiful baby sleeping comfortably in his or her mama's arms." she added with dreamy eyes, successfully drawing the picture in his own mind and it was so beautiful he couldn't wait to have it reality. He would have two most important people in his life instead of one to observe while sleeping and continue with the habit.

He loved to watch her sleep. It was one of his heavenly moments when he would prop himself up on an elbow facing her soundly sleeping form and just stare at her. Well, he liked it better, of course, when she was securely encircled in his protective - and possessive - arms, but that was another topic.

Watching her sleep brought peace to his heart. Observing her comfortably resting figure as her chest rose and fell with steady breaths, every once in a while she would inhale deeply and fast, letting out the air in a sigh along with a cute, little sound.

The way her mouth would be slightly opened, he thought, made her look a tad too innocent and vulnerable it made him feel more protective if that was possible.

She was, when sleeping, like a little, pure, precious, _cute_ child.

Sometimes, she would talk in her sleep and he would smirk at her sleeping face and talk back. He had once been able to actually have a decent conversation with her; it was about Gai and Lee's spandex suits and if they would look better if they were a different color. She'd talked so normally that he'd started to doubt the fact that she was sleeping, but when she'd finally decided that the suits would look really good in pink and red he'd made sure that she was, indeed, _fast_ asleep.

But as much as she was cute when she slept, she was even cuter when she awoke. She looked such a mix of adorable and funny she was so endearing, thus he preferred to be the one to wake up first so he could watch.

The first thing she would do was shooting a glance at the clock, then if she felt romantic enough or if the weather wasn't too hot, she would snuggle into his body and have some extra minutes in bed. That, of course, was his favorite case.

If not, which was his not favorite case, she would stretch her body while making some cat sounds and rolling a little to the right and left for better stretching results and ending the ceremony with a satisfied "Ah!" letting her arms fall onto the bed with a thud.

Then she would sit up, and that was by far the best part because she would look just too funny. Her hair was always a disaster in the morning; tangled and messed in every possible direction. She would often stretch some more and sometimes add a yawn to it making her look ridiculous but oh so cute.

Even the way she pushed her covers off her body and hopped up out of bed was so childish, nothing like the twenty four year old woman she was.

Too bad he couldn't enjoy such wonderful mornings and nights everyday; missions kept them away from home more often than not, and they would be on separated missions a lot of times. But maybe everything had its positive sides, too. They knew to treasure those moments and never take them for granted.

He looked up at her and she was giving him that smile; the she-was-going-to-do-something-he-wouldn't-like smile, and before he could have the time to worry about it she raised her hand holding a piece of food with her chopsticks to him. She wanted to _feed_ him.

"No." he said firmly.

"Come on, it's our first wedding anniversary for heaven's sake and I want to be romantic. Now open your damn mouth." By then her expression was slightly annoyed.

He sighed, and with a prayer that no one was looking in their direction he slowly leaned forward and opened his mouth a little. Seriously, what's gotten into her? Their romance was never so cheesy.

She smiled again at him bringing the chopsticks to his mouth, watching him with too much amusement for his liking.

She retrieved her hand as he chewed silently on the food, "Hummm? Is it good, Neji-chan?" she asked, laughter ringing in her voice.

He scowled, "I thought you wanted to be romantic, not pretend I was your child."

She did laugh this time, "Why, it's very romantic." she insisted, "Besides, every man is his wife's big child." she nodded for emphasis, "This is what I call love."

His brows remained furrowed as he murmured under his breath something about unfathomable definitions of love.

"Aw, you're so cute when you're sulking."

He glared at her.

"Don't glare at me on our first anniversary; it's unromantic." she scolded, pointing her chopsticks at him for good measure.

He paused a little trying to decrease the intensity of his glare before saying, "I'm not."

"Cute or sulking?"

"Both."

"You sure as hell are."

He sighed, deciding to drop it. She shall think whatever she wanted.

Since they've gotten married this was the third time she had the guts to call him cute. The first time was something similar to this situation. It was when he'd been sulking.. a little.. which he was not, when she told him she'd had a crush on one of her classmates when she was five. And that classmate wasn't himself.

The other time was when she'd shamelessly said to him while he wrote some important report: "Hey, Neji, I'm bored out of my mind. Come, let me pull your hair up into two buns like mine, you'll look so freaking cute. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Hm, what do you say?"

He'd given her a straight "no" and experimentally avoided her puppy eyes lest his resolve weaken.

Remembering, though, he found himself relaxing and _almost_ smiling. Happy again, he went back to finish his meal. That was when he noticed her looking at him in a not necessarily happy way. "What?" he asked innocently.

"What what? Aren't you going to romantically feed me, too?" she glared cutely at him.

He looked irritated for a moment before smirking, "Puppy eyes?"

In one second, Tenten's eyes were opened to their full size with the most innocent expression known to mankind as she looked up at him. She blinked in a slow manner for full effect. Now, he couldn't say no to that, could he?

His smirk turned into a half smirk, half smile as he slowly granted her what she wanted and carefully - and quite _romantically_- placed a piece of fish into her mouth.

She beamed at him.

"I thought you're above such pathetic ways like the puppy eyes?" she said, half serious.

"I think I'm changing my mind." he replied, his half smile, half smirk still in place.

Whatever she did, however she did it, she was always so cute. Always so beautiful.

When she threw weapons, she was deadly cute.

When she cooked, she was housewife-ly cute.

When they fought, she was annoyingly cute.

When she cried, she was heartbreakingly cute.

When they made love, she was sexily cute.

And when she sat before him like that, smiling lovingly just for him, she was so beautifully cute.

"Well," Tenten cut the short silence again, putting down her napkin after wiping her mouth, "I enjoyed every moment of my time, it was a beautiful day. Thank you, Neji." her smile was so sincere it melted his heart, "Happy Anniversary!"

He smiled warmly in return, "You're welcome. But.." now with a semi smirk, he leaned in a little closer, inwardly cursing that they were in a public place and their actions limited, "You're forgetting that the important part is still ahead." he watched with satisfaction as her smile turned confident and very much agreeing, "I'll make sure to better deserve your 'thank you'."

To his amazement, a faint pink actually made its way to her cheeks.

"You're so cute."

Her eyes widened slightly, "You said the forbidden word!" she said in shock, half mocking, but also half genuine.

If he hadn't been Hyuuga Neji, his own eyes would have widened that the word actually escaped his lips. Ironic it was though since another man wouldn't have a problem with it in the first place.

She smiled slyly at him but managing to make it sweet at the same time, "I _am_ cute, aren't I?"

Recovering, he returned the smile. So, he wasn't planing on adding the word to his vocabulary because it would disgrace him, but he concluded that there was no harm in using it in front of his wife. Maybe it was her right to hear it, too. And damn it, she _was_ cute!

And damn it again, they were still at the restaurant.

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**NOTES:**

- Cheesy much? I am not necessarily in love with the ending, especially that I made such a big deal of Neji using the word "cute" but I guess it's still okay.

- Naruto's sneeze from Naruto, episode 162 if you're interested. That one is the only one I remember. He of course doesn't sneeze like a monster, it's rather funny. xD

- NejiTen forever!

_Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas! :)_


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